Damage bill swells as flood levels rise further

BANGKOK: The Governor of Bangkok has issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge.

In live televised remarks, Sukhumbhand Paribatra said a massive amount of water has moved faster than anticipated and was expected to flood the Don Muang area just north of the city proper - where Bangkok's old airport is located and which is now being used as headquarters for the anti-flood effort and a shelter for evacuees.

He said it would threaten five other districts as well as it moves towards the city's more developed areas. On the warning list was the Chatuchak district, popular with tourists and locals for its weekend market.

''Now all indications point to only one conclusion: a critical problem will happen,'' Mr Sukhumbhand said.

His warning stood in stark contrast to general reassurances given earlier in the day by the flood relief operations centre set up by the government of the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. It announced that the situation was under control and could be expected to improve.

Less than an hour after Mr Sukhumbhand's warning, the centre's chief, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, read a brief statement on air saying it would support the city's relief efforts.

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Off a highway heading north of the city on Sunday, Associated Press reporters found people scrambling for safety in flooded streets.

The military used boats to help rescue stranded residents near Don Muang airport. Mothers walked in hip-high water with children strapped to their backs, while others waded through the water holding belongings in bags atop their heads.

In Nonthaburi province, just north of Bangkok, a two-metre crocodile was captured while resting on dry land outside a restaurant, presumably after pulling itself out of the surrounding floodwaters. Thai television showed the crocodile, which had reportedly escaped from a farm, with its snout taped shut and its body covering most of a boat that was carrying it away. Unconfirmed reports have claimed up to 100 crocodiles may have escaped from farms in the region.

The flooding that began in August has killed 356 people and delivered an economic body blow to industry and agriculture, with estimates that the $US6 billion ($5.77 billion) in damage could double if Bangkok is badly hit.

The flooding is the worst to hit Thailand since 1942 and is proving a major test for Ms Yingluck's nascent government, which took power in July after heated elections and has come under fire for not acting quickly enough to prevent major towns north of the capital from being ravaged by floodwaters.